A few gift ideas for the future Ars readers in your life

On top of all the other things that make gift giving hard (cost, availability, etc.), sometimes you simply have a recipient in mind but no clue what might work. Often, that recipient is, well, a kid.

Ars doesn't do much in terms of kid-oriented (or even parent-oriented) reviews, but we're all human around the Orbital HQ and do a fair amount of interacting with the youths. Anyone can tell you a Nintendo Switch or a souped-up vintage Gameboy might do the trick, but we want to encourage an Ars-y approach. Regardless of where the science ultimately comes down on screentime, gifts that encourage a little critical thought and experimental tinkering instead feel both fun and functional.

So for this week's Orbital Transmission, we're sharing a few of the gift ideas we've been tossing around for the future Ars readers in our lives. While no one at any age will complain about a sleek and stylish hoodie, we think there's room for improvement.

E-readers are great (whether it be Kindle, Kobo, or Nook in variety), but there's something about having a physical book in hand that can transport you to distant worlds. Reading about space with kids is a proven winner if you ask Ars' writer Cyrus Farivar—a recent run through science books with his five-year-old daughter even led the duo to write letters to some NASA scientists about Europa. So try something like The Jupiter Stone for the little ones; a 2018 re-print of the greatest rocket science book ever (Ignition) may be better for the slightly older crowd.

We like this whole "experiential" gifts trend—doing unique things with the people you love definitely leads to more lasting fun memories than another pair of holiday pajamas. For the Ars-y youths in your life, you can't get much more experiential than a Raspberry Pi. And a project like transforming a newer one into a console that beats the pants off an NES Classic is just the right amount of challenge, need for elder assistants, and payoff to engage even the most screen-salivating kids.

Anything not Monopoly can bring family together

Our Best of 2018 Board Game list continues to be a work in progress (ideally coming within the next week or so), but a little tabletop tends to bring families of all ages together. We've recommended it before, but we'll be wrapping quite a few copies of Villainous—a Disney-baddies card game with glorious artwork and surprisingly complex mechanics—this holiday season. (Hopefully we'll get to play a few rounds to boot.)